Tire tool



. Feb. 1 1944. s, FREED 2,340,586

TIRE TOOL Filed Nov. 19, 1941 INVENTQR 7 Samuel igfeed, BY 5 ArroRusvs moved.

Patented Feb. 1, 1 9441 STAES 3 Claims.

efilcient tire-loosening tool.

, In' removing a tire from a wheel, especially in the tire until it drops into the drop center, wherewheels of the drop center type, it is necessary to deflate the tire and 'compressthe edge orbead of upon the tire at the other side ofthewlieel may be readily slippedover the edgethereof.

It has been found that the tire usually adheres rather strongly to the rim and it has been the practice to hammer-the tire loose with large mallets to break this adhesion. The sharp blows of the hammer present'a danger in that they may injure the side walls of the tires and the rim or both. v

According to the present invention, this danger v .is obviated by providing a simple and efficient means which will break the adhesion between the tire and the rim by a gradual pressure rather than by undesirable violence and danger of hammer blows. Thisv isaccomplished by providing *an' easy and emcient manner without the use of a toolhaving means at one end'upon which it .may fulcrum and a tire-engaging member intermediate its ends and so arranged'as to'produce alever of thesecond class. This arrangementior a given-length'tool, provides a maximum pressure 'on the tire fora minimum of eflort and will readily, break the beads loose from'the rim and move them into .the position in which th'eycan be readily released from the rim and thetire re- An important feature of the invention resides in the simplicity of the structure employed, and

its efliciency and ease of operation.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the specification and claims when considered in connection with the drawing, in which: I Figure 1 shows a viewof the tool in use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the tool. per se.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a tire and wheel with the tool being used thereon.

As is shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the wlmel ill is substantially a disk as it is stamped from a sheet of metal. It is provided with a hub-receiving opening H having a flange l2 therearound and about its periphery has a tire-receiving rim 13. The rim I3 is provided with a drop center I i. The pneumatic tire l5 has an inner tube i6, and the beads ll of the tire normally rest in the rim l3 when the tire is inflated. After a long period of inflation, wherein the bead is pressed against the rim, a strong adhesion occurs between these elements.

In order to break this adhesion, according to the prior practices,- the tire was deflated and a hammer or the like toolwas empioyed toinfiict blows on the outer casing to cause the beads to be freed from the rim so that they could be dropped into the drop center It. This provides suflicient clearance at the opposite side of the tireto permit the tire to ped overj the edge 'of'the rim and the tire removed. I

With the tool of the present inventionythe adhesion between the tire and the rim is broken in any hammer blows or the like, which maydamage the walls of'the tire. a

This is accomplished by avery. simple tool comprising a bar 20 adapted tohave one'end fulcrumed in-the hub hole of the wheel and provided intermediate its ends with a-tire-engaging member so as to producea-lever of the second class, as will be explained. r

In the preferred form of the invention-,the bar is made up of a single strip of flat rigid material. At one end'a' means is providedfor interengaging the hub Opening of the'wheel sothat the bar may pivotthereaboutusingthe opening as a ful-.

crum point. As illustratedythis means comprises a hook 2! adapted to be positioned over the flanged edge of'the hub opening. In order to provide for a maximum support for the bar, it is twisted, adjacent this end at' 22, through with respect" to the main'b'ody'thereof so thata broad flat bearing'surface is presented.=.--Intermediate the ends of the bar, there is provided a plurality of longitudinally positioned openings 23 and a; I

tire-engaging member 24 is mounted in one of these openings inposition to engage the side walls of the tire adjacent the rim.

While the tire-engaging member may take many forms, it is at present preferredto make it as a stirrup=shaped member'having side legs 25 and a broad tire-engaging base 26. I

Thelegs are secured to the bar by a bolt, rivet or other suitable pivot means 27 passing through the ends thereof and one of the selected apertures in the bar so that the stirrup member is de-' pendent therefrom. By positioning the stirrup in a selected aperture in the bar, the tool can be tire-engaging surface 26 will distribute the pressure over asubstantial area and will lie along the rim for a substantial distance so that the exerted .over a considerable part of the periphery. The outer end of the bar forms a handle 28' by which pressure can be applied to break the adhesion between the rim and bead of the tire. The arrangement of the fulcrum at one end, the handle at the other and the tire-engaging member in-between produces a lever mocha-N pressure against the wall or the tire will be 7 ing said stirrup-shaped member in dependent renism of the second class which, for a given length of bar, will provide a maximum pressur on the tire for the amount of energy expended in operating the tool. The tool can be operated by a single person lation with said lever with the tire-engaging base disposed substantially parallel with the rim with in the manner shown in Fig. l. It will be seen that the hooked end of the bar has been interlocked with the near edge of the hub opening. The depending stirrup member naturally falls by gravity into a position to engage the tire adiacent the rim. Upon downward pressure on the.

handle in the direction of the arrow 28', a continuous pressure, in contradistinction to the hammer blowsof the prior art, will be applied" to the tire adjacent the rim.

With the hooked end of the tool interengaged with the hub opening, there will be a tendency, when pressure is applied to the handle, to also cause the wheel to pivot about its opposite edge, asv shown by the position of the wheel in Fig. 3. so thataoompound action maybe had at the rim to separate the elements in that the tire is forced down while at the same time the rim is lifted. Since the tool is not secured in a fixedposition on the wheel; it can be quickly slipped around thetire, and by several successive operations,

break thebead loose for the full periphery of the I i rim. The tire thus freed from the rim can have the beads readily dropped into the drop center to be removed.

the flat base engaging the wall of the tire adjacent the rim on movement of the lever about the hooked end as a fulcrum to cause said tire wall to move axially of the wheel and be separated from said rim.

, 2. A tool for loosening a vehicle tire from the rim of a wheel comprising a rigid lever having a hook at one end for engaging over the edge of the hub opening of the wheel and a handle at the other end; and a member having an elongate, anguiarly disposed tire-engaging surface mounted 'intermediate. the ends of the lever with the lowermost edge of the surface disposed substan- 'tially parallel with the rim to contact the tire I wall adjacent the rim upon movement of the lever thereof, said bar being twisted through 90 ad- While the tool has been described herein as 7 being used in connection with a drop center type rim, it is tobe understood that it can be employed with other styles of rims to loosen the tires therefrom;

The tool of the present invention includes but i a few simpleuparts, which can be easily and cheaply made. It, can be readily adjusted for use with wheels of different diameters and can be folded into a compact unit for storage.

9 I claim:

iacentone end'thereof and having a bend at said end to provide a hook having a broad bearing surface to engage the edge of the hub opening of thewheel; a stirrup-shaped tire-engaging memberlhavingfan angularly disposed tire-engaging surface; and means passing through the aperture for mounting the stirrup-shapedmember on the bar-and positioning the angularly disposed surface to engage the tire wall adiacentthe rim .upon movement of the bar about the hooked end as a fulcrum to cause said tire wall to move axiallyvof the wheel and be separated from said rim. V SAMUEL FREED. 

